Apparatus for folding paper linings



Sept. 18, 1934. H. PAXTON APPARATUS FOR FOLDING PAPER LININGS Filed Dec. 24, 1950 ZSheets-Sheet 1 Inventor.

flCQLEr PAXTON' Sept. 18, 1934. H, PAXTON APPARATUS FOR FOLDING PAPER LININGS Filed Dec. 24, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fzzvczzir:

HALE P Patented Sept. 18, 1934 UNITED STATES APPARATUS FORI FOLDING PAPER LIN NGS Hale Paxton, Redlands, Calif., assignor to Paxton Credit Corporation, Sanger, Calif... a corporation of California Application December 24, 1930, Serial No. 504,525

11 Claims.

My invention relates to the vegetable and fruit packing industries and particularly to the packing of fruits and vegetables in paper lined box-es.

While adapted for use relative to the packing Y 6 of many products, my invention is especially useful in the packing of lettuce and is disclosed herein with reference to such use.

To keep lettuce from wilting or drying out during shipment, the commercial practice is to pack lo the lettuce in crates lined with oiled paper with quantities of cracked ice put right in the crate around the lettuce.

The paper lining is placed in the box so as to hang over the box sides and ends when the letlti tuce is packed in the crate. The packed crates are then placed on a horizontal conveyer which leads to a lidding devicesuch as that shown in my copending application for U. S. patent, Ser. No. 468,680, filed July 17, 1930. The customary prac- 259 tice is to place a man just aheadof the lidder to fold the hanging paper linings up over the top of the packed crates. This of course adds the cost of this man's wages to the expense of running each lidding machine.

It is an object of my invention to provide an apparatus for folding linings over packed crates of lettuce which will eliminate the need of an assistant to the lidder operator for accomplishing this.

A further object of my invention is to provide such an apparatus by which this task may be accomplished by the lidder operator in conjunction with his operating the lidder so that practically no decrease in capacity of the lidder will 35 result. 4

At-present the man folding the paper linings up over the contents of the crate must grab hold of the oiled paper and'pull it into place. This A operation of course consumes time and slows up the work of preparing the crates for shipment.

It is correspondingly another object of my invention to provide an apparatus for folding linings over the crate which will automatically place a tension upon each lining while it is being folded.

The manner of accomplishing the foregoing objects, as well as further objects and advantages, will be made manifest in the following description, together with the accompanying draw ings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of a preferred embodiment of the apparatus of my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged diagrammatic front elevational view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 with a crate of lettuce in position for lidding;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 33-of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic perspective view of Fig. 2. V

Fig. 5 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 4 illustrating the end linings in raised position.

Fig. 6 is a View similar to Fig. 5 with the end linings folded inwardly and the side linings lifted above the crate.

Fig. 'l is a view similar to Fig. 6 illustrating the manner of folding the side linings.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the apparatus of my invention includes a feed conveyer 10, a lidder 11 and a discharge conveyer 12. The conveyers may be of any desired standard construction.

The lidder 11 is diagrammatically illustrated herein and in its structure preferably follows the lidder disclosed in my copending application for U. S. patent hereinbefore mentioned with the side tuckers thereof eliminated. This lidder is disposed between adjacent ends of the conveyers 10 and 12 and has an elevating platform or conveyer section 13 which is normally disposed on the same level as upper flights of the belts of the conveyers 10 and 12. The conveyer 13 is adapted to be elevated by suitable elevating mechanism 15 having a control mechanism 16 so as to bring a crate 17 which may be resting upon the platform 13 into engagement with a lid 18 which is adapted to be supported by an overhead lid applying mechanism (not shown) embodied in the lidder ll. Associated with the lidder 11 is a lining lifting and folding mechanism 20.

The lidder platform 13 includes a frame 25 on which is mounted a series of freely rotatable rollers 26. Secured on the frame is a stop 27 the purpose of which will become evident hereinafter. The frame 25 is supported on piston rods 30 of hydraulic cylinders 31 which are included in the elevating mechanism 15. Oil for elevating the piston rods 30 is supplied by the control mechanism 16 through pipes 32 leadingfrom avalve 33 to which the oil is supplied under pressure through a pipe 34. The valve 33 is adapted to be actuated by astem' 35 to connect the pipes 32 either with the pipe 34 or with a discharge or release pipe 36.

The crates 17 upon which the apparatus of my invention is designed to operate are preferably the standard lettuce crate having ends, bottom and side slats as shown. Before packing lettuce in these crates, end linings 37 and side linings 38 and 39 are laid over the ends and sides of t .e crate 17 so as to cover the inner surfaces of the crate 17 and hang over the upper edges thereof "as shown. Lettuce is then packed in the crate so that the upper layer L thereof extends upwardly above the crate as shown in Fig. 2. During the packing, cracked ice is scattered between the successive layers of lettuce to keep the latter fresh during shipment. As the crates 17 are thus packed, they are placed upon the conveyer 10 to be delivered to the lidder 11. Suitable means is provided for controlling the belt 10 so that when a box is being lidded on the lidder 11 another box will not be fed from the conveyer 10 onto thalidder platform 13. When a crate 17 is fed onto the platform 13 as shown in Fig. 2, it is halted in proper position for lidding by the stop 27.

The lining lifting and folding mechanism 20 includes an air propelling mechanism 40 having a motor 41 upon the shaft 42 of which is mounted the rotor of a blower 43. The blower 43 has a shell 44 provided with a discharge neck 45 and an inlet opening 46. Also provided on the shell 44 is a spider 48 having a mandrel 49 which is journalled in a bearing 50 in axial alignment with the shaft 42. The bearing 50 is mounted on a base 51 and has a slot 52.

Pivotally secured to the motor 41 is a control leter which. extends forwardly through the slot 52 and has a pedal 53 in its front end. Wrapped about the mandrel 49 is a flexible cable 60, one of the turns of which is secured to the mandrel and one end of which extends downwardly and is attached to the lever 55 as shown in Fig. 4. The opposite end of the cable is attached to a spring 62 which has its lower end attached to a leg 63 formed on the bearing base 51. Means is provided for mounting the valve 33 of the control mechanism 16 so that the stem 35 thereof extends upwardly through a suitable aperture in the bearing base 51 just beneath the pedal 53 as shown in Figs. 2 and 4,

Supported rigidly in any suitable manner so as to be concentrically disposed relative to the shaft 42 and mandrel 49 is an air valve quadrant which is formed by bending a heat-"y sheet of metal and which has stops 71 and 72 formed at its opposite ends. The quadrant 70 is disposed opposite the discharge neck 45 of the blower 40 and has three openings therein, it being possible to bring the neck 45 opposite any of these by rotating the mandrel 49. Connecting with the upper of these openings is a pair of air pipes 75 at the opposite ends of which are provided nozzles 76 which lie close to the ends of the conveyer 13 so that blasts of air proceeding from these nozzles will be directed upwardly alongside the ends of the crates 17 resting on the platform 13 in position for lidding.

Connecting with the middle of the ports in the quadrant 70 is a pair of air pipes 80 which terminate in nozzles 81 which lie alongside the platform 13 so that blasts of air proceeding from these nozzles are directed upwardly along the sides of the crate 17 disposed on this platform. Connecting with the lower of the air ports in the quadrant 70 is an air pipe 85 the opposite end of which terminates in a nozzle 86 which is horizontally disposed so that a blast of air proceeding from this nozzle will pass horizontally from the rear side of the crate 17 toward the front thereof between the upper row of lettuce L and the lid 18 positioned to, be applied to the crate. By depressing the pedal 53 the mandrel 49 of the blower shell 44 will rotate so as to bring the discharge neck 45 of this shell into alignment with any one of the ports of the quadrant 70 so that a blast of air may be directed at will by the operator of the lidder 11 out of the nozzles 76 or the nozzles 81 or the nozzle 86.

The operation of the apparatus of my invention is as follows:

When the lidder operator is not depressing the pedal 53 the neck 45 of the blower shell 44 is disposed upwardly as shown in Fig. 2, it being held in this position against a stop 71 by the spring 62. During the course of lidding operations the motor 41 is always running so that normally a blast of air is continually blowing from the nozzles 76. A crate 17 is now rolled onto the platform 13 from the conveyer 10 and positioned against the stop 27. The blasts of air from the nozzles 76 quickly lift the end linings 37 above the crate as shown in Fig. 5. The operator at once folds these linings inwardly between the upper row of lettuce L and the lid 18, friction of the paper on the lid causing this paper to be applied to the lettuce under tension. As the operator folds the end linings inwardly over the lettuce L as shown in Fig. 6 he steps upon the pedal 53 to direct blasts of air from the nozzles 81. This lifts the side linings 38 and 39 up= wardly, whereupon the operator forces lining 38 backward and at the same time presses further down on the pedal 53. The latter motion causes air impelled by the blower 40 to be discharged from the nozzle 86 to force the lining 39 forwardly as shown in Fig. 7, thus permitting it to be grasped by the operator and pulled forwardly over the lining 38. As soon as the operator is able to grab hold of the lining 39 he presses the pedal 53 downwardly to the extreme limit, thus a pressing the valve stem 35 and. causing oil from the pressure line 34 to be admitted to the cylinders 31 so as to lift the lidder platform 13 and apply the lid 18 to the crate 17 in a manner disclosed in my copending application mentioned herein above. Suitable means for tucking the endmost rows of lettuce or other fruit or vege-. table products inwardly between the lid and the crate may be used in conjunction with the apparatus shown, preferable means for accomplishing this being shown in the aforesaid copending application.

In the illustrated embodiment the valve stem 35 is shown of such length that it is not actuated until after the pedal 53 has been depressed sufliciently to bring the blower into communication with the air pipe 85, which means that the elevating mechanism 15 is not brought into play until 39 after the folding of the linings 37, 38 ,and 39 is practically completed.

Where the elevating apparatus 15 is not adapted to lift the crate 17 quickly to perform the lid applying operation, it may be preferable to extend the stem 35 upwardly such a distance that the elevating apparatus will start to lift the crate 17 towards lid-applying position before the blast of air is directed from the nozzle 86.

In practice the operator of the lidder 11, using the method of my invention, may easily fold the linings of the crate 17 without materially delaying the lidding function of the lidder. The cost of a single man is thus entirely saved with a very small additional capital outlay and expenditure for power.

Also by the use of my apparatus for folding the linings while beneath the lid 18 and while the linings are extended upwardly by means of an air blast, the linings are folded in snug contact 150 with the lettuce in the crate without loss of time as is usually required in grabbing hold of the paper so as to pull this into position.

What I claim is:

1. In combination: a platform for receiving a. loaded crate with aplurality of paper linings hanging over edges thereof; a stop for positioning said crate on said platform; and means for directing a fluid blast beneath said hanging linings to lift these above said crate.

2. In combination: a platform for receiving a loaded crate with a plurality of paper linings hanging over end and side edges thereof; a stop for positioning said crate on said platform; and means for directing a fluid blast beneath said hanging linings to lift these above said crate.

3. In combination: a platform for receiving a loaded crate with a plurality of paper linings hanging over end and side edges thereof; a stop for positioning said crate on said platform; means for directing a fluid blast beneath said hanging linings to lift these above said crate; and means for controlling said aforementioned means to lift said end linings prior to lifting said side linings.

4. In combination: a platform for receiving a loaded crate with a plurality of. paper linings hanging over edges thereof; astop for positioning said crate on said platform; means for directing a fluid blast beneath said hanging linings to lift these above said crate; and means for folding one of said linings over said crate.

5. In combination: a platform for receiving a loaded crate with a plurality of paper linings hanging over end and side edges thereof; a stop for positioning said crate on said platform; means for directing a fluid blast beneath said hanging linings to lift these above said crate; and means for folding one of said linings over said crate.

6. In combination: a platform for receiving a loaded crate with a plurality of paper linings hanging over end and side edges thereof; a stop for positioning said crate on said platform; means for directing a fluid blast beneath said hanging linings to lift these above said crate; means for over edges thereof; means for lifting said linings above said crate; and means for sweeping one of said linings inward over the contents of said crate.

8. In combination: means for receiving a loaded crate with a plurality of paper linings hanging over edges thereof; means for lifting said linings above said crate to permit their being readily swept inward over the contents of said crate; and means for manually controlling said lifting means to lift said linings in a selected order.

9. In combination: means for receiving a loaded crate with a plurality of paper linings hanging over edges thereof; means for lifting said linings above said crate; means for sweeping one of said linings inward ever the contents of said crate; and means for manually controlling said lifting means and said sweeping means to actuate these in a selected order.

10. In combination: a platform for receiving aloaded crate with a plurality of paper linings hanging over edges thereof; and means for directing a fluid blast beneath said hanging linings to lift these above said crate.

11. In combination: a platform for receiving'a loaded crate with a plurality of paper linings hanging over edges thereof; means for directing a fluid blast beneath said hanging linings to lift these above said crate; and means for folding one of said linings over said crate.

HALE PAXTON. 

